What happened
While climbing through approximately 200 feet AGL at 60 knots, a helicopter experienced a sudden loss of engine power. The aircraft had recently departed from a confined area. Upon the loss of power, the flight instructor assumed control of the aircraft and executed an autorotation into an open field.
Both the flight instructor and the student pilot reported that the touchdown was harder than anticipated. During this landing, the right skid collapsed. While the flight instructor had experience performing autorotations to a power recovery, he noted he could not recall the last time he had performed an autorotation specifically to a touchdown.
The investigation
An examination of the aircraft revealed that the lower fuselage fairing had separated from the fuselage. Investigators found that the attachment holes on the lower fuselage fairing were elongated. Following the separation of this fairing, a wire located inside the intake hose—which supplies air to the fuel control unit—pulled out. This caused the intake hose to collapse into the engine air intake, resulting in an engine blockage.
Additionally, the manufacturer reported that the rotor blades sustained flapping damage and indicated there was no significant rotation present at the time of impact.